Rein-guard.



L. B. AVERY.

REIN GUARD.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 23, I913.

Patented NOV.4,1913.

Wafzzgseaw a i g UNIT g LEWIS B. AVERY, OF BRIDGEWATER, MICHIGAN.

BETH-GUARD.

To all whom, it may concern Be it knownthat I, Lnwis B. AvnRY, a citizen of the United States, resid ng in the township of Bridgewater, in the county of /Vashtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented anew and useful Improvement in which it is used by extending laterally each way from the end of the tongue back to the neckyoke and ordinarily about six inches each way from the center of the neckyoke.

I attain this object by the mechanism illus trated in the accompanying drawing, in whichp Figure 1 is a plan view of the guard when in use; and Fig. 2 is a full size view on the line 50 y in Fig; '1 of the bearing that holds the guard in place.

When no guard is used, and the team is standing and the lines are hanging loosely, either of the inside-lines is likely to sag and swing under the end of the tongue and to bind there when the driver pulls up on it, makingit difficult for him to guide his team until some one goes to the front of the team and pulls the line out. This happens very frequently when the team is stopped and started very often, as when driving from one shock of grain to another, and stopping and hanging the lines on the front standard while each shock is being loaded. A driver will sometimes have to get down from a high load and take a line out from under the tongue and climb back up again before he can drive his team satisfactorily. But when this device is used, it will, by its peculiar shape and position, effectually prevent the lines from getting under the end of the tongue.

This guard consists essentially of a hoop 1 made of heavy stiff wire, and has a diameter of about twelve inches, more or less, and is situated over the end of the tongue 11 and under the neckyoke 14, its center being under the center of the neckyoke 14. In Fig. 1, the middle portion of the neckyoke 14 is broken away to show the central portion of the guard when in place, the neckyoke ring 18 being left in position on the tongue. The ends of the wire forming the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

Application filed June 23, 1913. Serial No. 775,446.

hoop 1 are welded together, as at 10, or are twisted together there so as to form a stiff joint. About midway across the right and left halves of the hoop 1, two wires 2 2 ex tend, the ends of each being bent tightly around the hoop wire. These wires are also joined near their centers by two parallel wires 4 4, which, with the wires 2 2, form a rectangular slot through which the neckyoke ring and links may easily pass. Short wires 9 9 join the wires 2 2 with the hoop 1 so as to strengthen the whole structure. The wires 4 4 also carry a bearing 5 which holds the guard in place. This bearing is formed of wire and has two loops 7 7 which are adapted to rest upon the upper portion of the ring 13. The ends 8 8 of the wireforming the hearing are bent loosely around wire 4, so that the hearing may be swung around it. The middle portion of the wire forming the bearing is bent to form a forwardlyand upwardly-extending loop 6, which rests against the wire 4 and helps to keep the bearing in position.

To prevent the front portion of the guard from dropping down in front of the end of the polecap loop 12, a wire joins the wires 2 2 near their front ends. A similar wire 3 joins them near their opposite ends also, and serves the same purpose when the positions of the neckyoke and guard are reversed.

The ends of the wires 8 3, 4 4, and 9 9 are bent tightly around the wires 2 2, or are welded or otherwise secured to them, so as not to slip; and in the same way, the ends of the wires 2 2 and 9 9 are bent tightly around the hoop wire 1. d

When no guard is used, either cross-line, for example, the left one 15, if it gets under the tongue, would be about in the position shown by the dotted lines 15 but when this guard is used, the line can do no more than to sag down to one side of the guard, as shown at 15, and can be easily pulled up again.

This guard, when attached to the neckyoke, may remain there during a harvest season, or all the year around, as the owner may see fit.

To attach the guard to the neckyoke, the neckyoke ring 13 is dropped through the slot formed by the wires 2 2 and 4 4, when the bearing 5 is inserted over the ring 13 and under the neckyoke 14, and the loop 6 is sprung under the wire 4. It will then remain in this position unless forced out of it.

Either side of the guard and consequently either side of the neckyoke may be in front; and the guard will, in either case, work equally well. Thus no care need be taken' as to which side of the neckyoke or of the guard is placed in front.

Instead of a hoop or ring, a sheetmetal disk of the same size as the hoop and with a slot through its center might be used to accomplish the same purpose; and whether a hoop or a disk be used, it need not necessarily be circular in form, but is to be shaped so as to extend backwardly and laterally each way from the end of the polecap loop; 12 toward the neckyoke so as to prevent thej cross-lines from getting under it.

I claim as my invention 1. A flat-shaped rein-guard, whose central portion is vsituated beneath the middle: portion of the neckyoke on which it is used, 1 having a slot through its center to admit the i passage of the neckyoke ring and links, and i whose forward edge extends laterally eachf way from near the front end of the tonguei and backwardly toward the under side of the neckyoke to prevent the cross-lines, when sagging from getting under the end of the tongue. 2

2. A rein-guard consisting of a ring on hoop having a slot through its central portion formed :by cross-wires secured to its periphery and large enough to permit the nec'kyoke ring and links to pass through it, and whose central portion is situated beneath the middle portion of the neckyoke on which it is used, and whose diameter is such that its forward half will extend over the most of that portion of the tongue that is in front of the neckyoke, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose specified.

3. A rein-guard consisting of a ring .or hoop having a slot through 1ts central portion formed by cross-wires secured to its periphery and large enough to permit the neckyoke ring and links to pass through it, and having a bearing hinged to one of the cross-wires forming said slot, and fitted to and capable of resting on the upper side of the neckyoke ring and terminating in a loop which extends beyond and rests against the under side of the opposite cross-Wire, substantially as shownand described and for the purpose specified.

LEW IS B. AVERY, Witnesses JAMES DWIGHT HAUsn, JAMES A. I'IOGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ,of Patents. Washington; D. G. 

